How to break art rules

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Cover you Over by Emily Hannon

Artist of the month Emily Hannon ( read her ATM interview here)  tells us just how she has  used her practice as a painter to branch into new processes, and lifting a mixed media craftsmanship into her studio. Take inspiration from her rule breaking, read on...

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been aware of an inherent need to create things and for almost as long as I can remember, painting has been my chosen medium;  it’s my frame of reference and the means by which I can create inroads into life’s encounters and experiences.

 

 Art school was where I first learnt the craft of painting, where I really came to know and understand it, and, most importantly, where I first came to really love it. Alongside this, it was also where I first came to see the importance of having a good working knowledge of art history and contemporary art. 

 

As a practicing artist, I follow a number of other artists and am always grateful to those who are prepared to share their own wealth of knowledge and experience. There are of course, particular favourites; artists that I find I always come back to, whose works communicate in ways I find arresting and compelling. The challenges presented by such works inspire me to keep going, to extend what I can do and to keep adding more tools to my tool belt.  For me, art-making involves utilising what you know but also being prepared to put it to one side for a time, explore new territory, take risks and maybe break a few rules.

In recent months, I’ve become something of a mixed media junkie and as a result, have developed a more integrated studio practice that incorporates a much wider spectrum of materials and making. I’ve become particularly interested in experimenting with photographic gel lifts and transfers, and with cyanotypes; an early photographic printing process. The way an image can be transformed in the course of working is a constant source of fascination.

 

To some extent, art-making  requires a dialogue between the artist and what they are creating, but introducing new elements to the mix can certainly make for a much more challenging and revealing conversation. 

To paraphrase the revolutionary abstract expressionist painter, Helen Frankenthaler,

 ‘Challenge yourself, do it even if it seems ridiculous, you might just surprise yourself with what you discover...’

 

Thank you Emily! Check out the fruits of her labour here.